With Stability Control Systems a Must for Safe Cars List, What Does "Safety" Really Mean Anymore?

Oct 1, 2009

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released its list of the safest cars (including crossovers) for the 2007 model year. And, happily, the critical decider for "safest" came down to active safety, rather than passive. In other words, vehicles that had the best chance of avoiding an accident in the first place fared better than those that simply helped protect their occupants once they were in an accident.

And, as far as the IIHS was concerned, that accident-avoiding ability ultimately boiled down to vehicles equipped with stability control systems, which Popular Mechanics gave a hard look in our man vs. machine showdown. Now, we have long championed the importance of active safety. It may be a cliché, but it's still so, so true: The best way to survive an accident is to not have one in the first place.

But there's a lot more to avoiding an accident than stability control. How about steering response? Acceleration? Braking? Is a Mercedes-Benz M-Class or a Kia Sedona minivan, both winners in their categories, better able to avoid an accident than, say, a Corvette or Saturn Sky or Mazda MX-5 when piloted by a skilled driver? Gotta wonder.

And, you've also got to wonder how safe the various "safest" vehicles are should they be in an accident, regardless of their stability controls. After all, as the old saw goes, accidents happen. Are you better off riding in a Honda CR-V or Subaru B9 Tribeca than you would be in a Ford Escape or Saturn Vue should you come to a sudden stop against a tree or the guardrail? I don't know. But I wonder how much the "passive safety" part of the equation figures into the IIHS's ratings.

You have to remember, the Institute is backed by automobile insurance companies. Fewer accidents means fewer payouts.

But still, we laud the Institute's stand that the sooner stability control systems are available on all cars from all makers, the better it will be for us all. But we steadfastly argue that the driver must still be able to switch off these systems when desired (listen my colleague discuss in our latest podcast).

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.